History/Trends

The proposal for an Army ROTC detachment in Rochester was initiated in 1967 when the Army advised RIT that they were interested in establishing an ROTC program in the area for school year 1969-1970. A committee headed by the Institute President met in 1968 to discuss implementation of the program and recommendations for its operation in relation to the rest of the Institute. In November, the Army approved RIT’s application for the program, and ROTC became a reality.

The first PMS (Professor of Military Science) and his staff arrived on the RIT campus in February, 1969 and by September of that year, began enrolling students in ROTC. The program kicked off the school year with 54 Cadets, 11 in the two-year program and 43 in the four-year program. By 1971, 8 of those first Cadets were commissioned as officers in the United States Army.

Our detachment today represents not just the Rochester Institute of Technology, but also the University of Rochester, Nazareth College, Saint John Fisher College, the State University of New York campus at Geneseo and Monroe Community College. Since 1969, ROTC has provided scholarships of varying lengths to Cadets who have studied at virtually all of these campuses (the exception is Monroe Community College).

Ever since Cadet Command began actively tracking Cadet performance at the Leadership Development and Assessment Course at Fort Lewis Washington, Cadets from the Rochester Institute of Technology has placed in the top 5 programs nationally in every measurable event (Leadership Evaluations, Army Physical Fitness Test, Day and Night Land Navigation, RECONDO, and top 5 in the Platoon).